WATCH: Interview with Best Player June Mar Fajardo and Coach Jorge Gallent [Feb. 4, 2024]

After a near slip at endgame Friday, San Miguel wouldn’t commit the same mistake in this tiff.

The Beermen played heads-up basketball for four full quarters and took a commanding 2-0 lead in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals with an emphatic 109-85 triumph over the Magnolia Hotshots Sunday at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.

Bennie Boatwright and his teammates outscored the Hotshots in each quarter in a dominant show capped by a strong finish highlighted by rare back-to-back three-pointers from June Mar Fajardo.

The Beermen terribly outgunned the Hotshot as in their 103-95 victory in the series kickoff. SMB was 16-of-44 from the arc in Game 2 compared to Magnolia’s 7-of-27. In the previous game, the Beermen banged away 10 treys as against the Hotshots’ measly three.

Coach Jorge Gallent’s troops also stamped their class on other fronts, thus, coasting to the 24-point blowout that sent the team to within two wins of a return to the Commissioner’s Cup throne.

Game 3 is Wednesday over at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with the Beermen trying to push the Hotshots in a hole a few teams had managed to crawl out and survive.

Going to that game, the Beermen will ride the momentum of an 11-game run dating back to the elims.

Boatwright continued to make a case for himself in the Best Import derby, bombing away seven three-pointers and a total of 34 points on top of 10 rebounds and five assists against four turnovers.